Machine for dispensing and distributing dry flowable materials

ABSTRACT

A machine for dispensing comminuted, granular, powdered, flaked, or otherwise divided dry flowable edible or non-edible materials onto the upper surfaces of edible or non-edible articles or products, with an adjustable material discharge flow, onto a rotatable roll which, in turn, carries the material thereover and discharges such material downwardly onto and over the articles or products therebelow in a substantially evenly disseminated and uniform manner.

United States Patent 1191 Christy MACHINE FOR DISPENSING ANDDISTRIBUTING DRY FLOWABLE MATERIALS [76] Inventor: Daniel Lamar Christy,118 Birchard Ave., Fremont, Ohio 43420 22 Filed: July 14, 1971 1211Appl. No.: 162,337

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 641,725, April26, l967, Pat.

52 us. Cl 222/314, 222/342, 222/414 51 Int. Cl. G01f 13/00 58 Field ofSearch.... 222 314, 317, 342, 352, 414

561 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,238,919 3/1966 Meyer.222/314 X 3,190,506

6/1965 Selzler 222/314 Jan. 29, 1974 2,065,717 12/1936 Marrsdale 222/314313,312 3/!885 Galloway 858,508 7/1907 Goldman 2,203,474 7/1940 Carroll222/352 x Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman Assistant Examiner-Frederick R. Handren Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Donnelly, Maky, Renner &Otto [5 7] ABSTRACT A machine for dispensing comminuted, granular,powdered, flaked, or otherwise divided dry flowable edible or non-ediblematerials ontothe upper surfaces of edible or non-edible articles orproducts, with an adjustable material discharge flow, onto a rotatableroll which, in turn, carries the material thereover and discharges suchmaterial downwardly onto and over the articles or products therebelow ina substantially evenly disseminated and uniform manner.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 MACHINE FOR DISPENSING AND DISTRIBUTINGDRY FLOWABLE MATERIALS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Thisapplication is a division of my copending US. application Ser. No.641,725, filed Apr. 26, 1967, now US. Pat. No, 3,637,112, granted Jan.25, 1972.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improvements inmachines for effecting the controlled discharge, by sprinkling ordispersion, of various forms of flowable dry, or substantially dry,edible or non-edible matters onto edible or non-edible products, suchfor example, though in no manner so limited, as the evenly scattereddischarge of salt, sugar, edible seeds or other taste improving,garnishing or decorative matters onto biscuits, crackers, potato andother edible chips, pretzels, rolls, and other bakery or, edibleproducts, or non-edible appearance embellishing and/or utilitarianmaterials or matters onto non-edible products; the machine being of thatgeneraltype as described and claimed in my US. Patents numbered3,070,264 and 3,073,607.

Heretofore, machines used to disperse edible and/or non-edible productswith dry or substantially dry flowable materials havenot been entirelysatisfactory primarily because of their cost andcomplexity, and theyhave not always been asdependable as they might be.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION With the foregoing in mind, it is a principalobject of this invention to provide a machine of the type indicatedwhich is relatively economical in operation and of'a relatively simpleand low cost construction.

Another object is toprovide such a machine in which flakes, granular,powdered, and similar materials or products (either edible ornon-edible) are delivered in substantiallyregulated free and constantflow to a dispensing roll which receives the material and carries thematerial on its peripheral surface and discharges the material therefromin disseminated, even and uniform fashion for deposit on a receivingbody.

Still another object of this invention is to provide such a machinewhich prevents compacting or packing of material or products and thusprevents flow stoppage of the material which flows'in measured'amountsfrom the machine hopper onto the dispensing roll thereby assuringcontinued or steady supply to the roll.

Yet another object is to provide such a machine which by reason of itssimplicity of construction and arrangement of parts may be readily andthoroughly cleaned and maintained in compliance with required sanitationordinances.

These and other objects of the present invention may be achieved using amachine having a'material receiving and dispensing roll disposedadjacent one side of a hopper having downwardly converging generallyplanar chute plates. One of the chute plates has a troughlike lip on thelower end thereof which maintains a constant and level reservoir ofmaterial assuring a free and uniform supply thereof tov the rotatingdispensing roll by which it is carried upwardly thereover and dischargedfrom the opposite side thereof. The other chute plate maybe adjustedeither upwardly or downwardly toward and away from the upturned edge ofthe trough-like lip on the first-mentioned chute plate for increasingand decreasing the flow of dispensable material laterally onto theperiphery of the roll. The bottom edge of the outer chute plate isbeveled to permit the other chute plate to be moved closely adjacent tothe periphery of the roll when a minimum lateral outflowing of materialfrom the chute plates is desired without damaging or causing frictionaldrag on the peripheral surface of the roll.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims, the following description andthe annexed drawings setting forth in detail a certain illustrativeembodiment of the invention, this being indicative, however, of but oneof thevarious ways in which the principle of the invention may beemployed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to the drawings and first especiallyto FIG. 1 thereof, the machine of the subject invention comprises asubstantially rectangularly shaped body including end walls 1 and sidewalls 2. The end walls 1 are of sufficient thickness and strength toeffectively mount and support the various working parts or components ofthe machine, and the side walls 2 are secured to longitudinally disposedframe bars 4 and 5, the latter having legs 6 connected thereto andfixedly mounted on the spaced transverse bars or rails of a suitablebed. A hopper 7 is received in and extends longitudinally of the bodywhere it is supported by legs 8 mounted on and connected to appropriateportions of the frame bars 4.

The lower end-of the hopper 7 is open and is nestingly engaged bydownwardly converging chute plates 9' and 10' which extend closelyadjacent to and are in communicative relation with the outer peripheryof a dispensing roll 27 adjacent the upper portion of one side thereofin a manner to be more fully described hereafter. The dispensingroll 27is longitudinally dis-' posed in the machine body with the ends thereofsuitably joumaled in the end walls 1 for rotation of the dispensing rolltherewithin.

The chute plate 10 is fixed and non-adjustable and carries a trough-likeinwardly disposed flange or lip 26 on and along its lower side. The freeand upwardly disposed inner sideof the lip is closely adjacent the outerperiphery of the dispensing roll 27 along the upper portion of one sidethereof and is in approximate alignment with the roll side of the chuteplate 9'.

As clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the chute plate 9' is adjustableupwardly and downwardly toward and away from the upturned lip 26 insuitable ways in the inner sides of the end walls 1 to control thedensity or rate of flow of the dispensed material. Preferably, the lowerside of the chute plate 9' is beveled as at 9a so that when the blade 9'is moved from the uppermost position shown in FIG. 2 to the lowermostposition shown in FIG. 1, the beveled lower side 9a will be spacedslightlyfrom the roll periphery to provide a minimum lateral outflowingof material from the chute plates. In consequence, damaging of andfrictional drag on the peripheral surface of the dispensing roll 27 isprevented.

To effect vertical adjustment of the chute plate 9, longitudinallyspaced brackets 11 are fixed to and carried by the plate 9' andthreadedly engaged by adjusting screws 12 rotatively engaged with andsupported by other angle brackets 13 fixedly mounted on the inner sideportions of the end walls 1. Coiled springs 14 are engaged over thelower end portions of each of the adjusting screws 12 in bearingengagement with adjacent portions of the angle brackets l l and 13 toexert a drag influence on their respective screws preventing too freerotation thereof following their turning to adjusted positions. As willbe apparent, rotation of the adjusting screws 12 in opposite directionscauses the chute plate 9' to be raised or lowered for increasing anddecreasing the size of the flow discharge opening between the chuteplate 9 and The material receiving and dispensing roll 27 is driven in acounter-clockwise direction as seen in FIGS. 1 through 3 by a motor (notshown) suitably mounted on the machine body thus to carry the metereddischarge flow of material from the way between the chute plates 9 and10' laterally and outwardly therefrom onto and along the upper portionof the inner side of the roll periphery, from whence it is carriedupwardly and outwardly thereover avoiding or preventing its packing orpartially solidifying and resultant flow stoppage or other irregular orunsatisfactory dispensing. Moreover, a reservoir of the salt or materialwill be maintained constant and level in the trough-like lip 26, thusassuring a free and uniform supply thereof to the rotating dispensingroll by which it will be carried upwardly thereover and discharged orcascaded from its opposite side in an advantageously effected dispersedform for even and uniform delivery onto the edible or non-edible objectstherebelow.

The wall of the machine body may be inwardly inclined as shown in FIG. 1adjacent the opposite side of the roll 27 to provide a discharge way forthe roll dispensed material, and a material receiving and dispensinghopper-like chute 22 may be provided below the dispensing roll forreceipt of the roll discharged material. The lower end of the chute 22is desirably formed with a laterally directed discharge way, the lowerside or lip of which is angled, as at 22' in a mannner to deflect thedispersed material impinging thereupon outwardly and downwardly wherebythe material will be thoroughly dispersed or spread in its downwardpassage to and onto receiving bodies therebelow, thus effectively andevenly coating the same.

With the stopping of the rotation of the dispensing roll 27, thedispensable material, as for example, salt remaining on or touching theinner side of the roll periphery will fall away or tumble therefrom backinto the trough-like lip 26.

If desired, the dispensing roll 27 may be provided with a rotatablebrush 28 mounted in and longitudinally of the machine body in apposedand bristle contacting engagement with the roll periphery as shown inFIG. 3. To effect rotation of the brush 28, a suitable type of belt orchain drive 29, shown in dotted lines, may be employed, being engagedwith a pulley 29' on the mounting of the roll 27, with a similar pulley29a mounted on the brush 28. The effect of the brush 28 is to maintianthe periphery of the dispensing roll clear of the material beingdispensed or encrustations thereof. Additionally, the brush 28 bycontacting the rotating roll 27 will create a turbulence or agitationbeneficial to accomplishing a dispersed spread or disseminated dischargeof material therefrom, assuring an even and uniform coating on thereceiving articles.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the flow density control chute plate 9' maybe adjusted either upwardly or downwardly and retained with relation tothe inner and up-disposed side of the trough-like lip 26 for increasingor decreasing the flow of dispensable material laterally onto the rollperiphery to the desired extent. When the plate 9 is in its downposition shown in FIG. 1, as when a minimum lateral outflowing ofmaterial from the chute plates is occurring, its beveled lower side 9ais spaced slightly from the roll periphery, as is the upturned innerside of the lip 26, thus avoiding any damage or frictional drag on theperipheral surface of the roll.

From the foregoing, it will now be apparent that an important andessential characteristic or feature of the present invention resides inthe manner or method of delivering salt or other divided material to thedispensing roll 27 of the machine. The material is supplied from themachine hopper to and between the chute plates 9', 10, from which thematerial flows in selectively metered quantity to the roll 27. By reasonof the lateral out-flowing of the loosely lying salt or other dryflowable material via the level seeking and maintained feed or supplythereof from the reservoir between the plates, a dependably constant anduniform delivery and sprinkling onto the receiving products is assured.As the loose salt or other dry flowable material is discharged from thelateral and outward outlet provided by the metering discharge waybetween the chute plates, the supply thereof is constantly maintained.The receiving roll, rotating at a preselected speed, acts to displacethe outflowing material and convey it upwardly thereover from whence itis discharged in cascade-like form onto receiving products. It is to benoted and emphasized that the dispensing roll does not pick up thematerial from the chute plates near or at the bottom of the roll.Rather, once the flow of the material reaches a level between the platesand the upper portion of the dispensing roll, the material freely spillsover onto the roll and is carried upwardly thereby for the ultimatecascade-like discharge therefrom.

It should be understood that the dispensing roll may, if desired orrequired, be replaced by other and similar rolls whose peripheralsurfaces are plain, smooth, indented, or formed or provided withcorrugations or pockets of different forms and sizes dependent upon thecharacter and kind of materials which are to be dispensed by themachine. It should also be understood that the machine may be employedequally advantageously for dispensing, coating, and/or sprinkling bothedible and non-edible material onto edible and nonedible bodies orproducts.

It should also be understood that the machine of the present inventionmay be constructed in different widths to'vary the output or dischargeof the flowable material therefrom, and that two or more of the machinesmay be arranged in endwise relation to increase the width or output offlowable materials therefrom. The machines may also be arranged, ifdesired, in relatively tandem relation to assure a satisfactory coatingof edible or non-edible objects moving therebeneath.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A machine for dispensing and distributing flowable particulatedmaterial onto and over a receiving body comprising a hopper for thematerial, said hopper having a bottom outlet for discharge of thematerial therefrom, a pair of relatively converging generally planarchute plates extending downwardly from said hopper in communication withsaid hopper outlet, a roll rotatably supported below and offset'laterally from said chute plates, the chute plate furthest fromsaid roll having an upturned lip on the lower end thereof lyinggenerally in the plane of the chute plate closest to said roll to definea lateral discharge way therebetween for the material adjacent the upperportion of one side of said roll, said upturned lip having an upwardlydisposed inner side closely adjacent the outer periphery of said rollalong such upper portion of one side thereof, said upturned lipproviding a substantially constant and level reservoir of material to besupplied to said roll through said lateral discharge way, and means forrotating said roll in a direction causing the material to flow laterallyoutwardly through said lateral discharge way and onto said roll fordischarge from the opposite side of said roll.

2. The machine of claim 1 further comprising a material receiving anddispensing chute below said roll for receipt of the material dischargedfrom the opposite side of said roll, said material receiving anddispensing chute being formed with a laterally directed discharge wayhaving an angled lip on the lower side thereof for deflecting thematerial impinging thereupon outwardly and downwardly for thoroughlydispersing or spreading the material in its downward passage.

3. The machine of claim 1 wherein means are provided for moving thechute plate closest to said roll toward and away from the upturned lipon the other chute plate for decreasing and increasing the size of saidlateral discharge way for decreasing and increasing the flow of materiallaterally onto the periphery of said roll.

4. The machine of claim 3 wherein the bottom edge of said movable chuteplate facing said roll is beveled to permit said movable chute plate tobe moved closely adjacent the periphery of said roll when a minimumlateral outflowing of material is desired without damaging or causingfrictional drag on the periphery of said roll.

5. The machine of claim 3 wherein said means for moving the chute plateclosest to said roll toward and away from the upturned lip on the otherchute plate comprises a stationary bracket, an adjusting screw rotatablysupported by said stationary bracket, a movable bracket carried by saidmovable chute plate, said adjusting screw having threaded engagementwith said movable bracket whereby rotation of said adjusting screwcauses movement of said movable chute plate toward and away from saidupturned lip, and spring means surrounding said adjusting screw betweensaid brackets which provides a resistance to turning of said adjustingscrew.

6. The machine of claim 1 further comprising a rotatable brush mountedin apposed and bristle contacting engagement with the roll peripheryimmediately below said upturned lip, and means for rotating said brushto maintain the periphery of said roll clear of the material beingdispensed.

7. The machine of claim 6 wherein said means for rotating said brushcomprises drive means between said roll and brush, whereby rotation ofsaid roll causes rotation of said brush.

8. The machine of claim 1 further comprising a material receiving anddispensing chute below said roll for receipt of the material dischargedfrom the opposite side of said roll, and an inwardly inclined walladjacent the opposite sideof said roll for directing the roll dispensedmaterial into said material receiving and dispensing chute.

1. A machine for dispensing and distributing flowable particulatedmaterial onto and over a receiving body comprising a hopper for thematerial, said hopper having a bottom outlet for discharge of thematerial therefrom, a pair of relatively converging generally planarchute plates extending downwardly from said hopper in communication withsaid hopper outlet, a roll rotatably supported below and offsetlaterally from said chute plates, the chute plate furthest from saidroll having an upturned lip on the lower end thereof lying generally inthe plane of the chute plate closest to said roll to define a lateraldischarge way therebetween for the material adjacent the upper portionof one side of said roll, said upturned liP having an upwardly disposedinner side closely adjacent the outer periphery of said roll along suchupper portion of one side thereof, said upturned lip providing asubstantially constant and level reservoir of material to be supplied tosaid roll through said lateral discharge way, and means for rotatingsaid roll in a direction causing the material to flow laterallyoutwardly through said lateral discharge way and onto said roll fordischarge from the opposite side of said roll.
 2. The machine of claim 1further comprising a material receiving and dispensing chute below saidroll for receipt of the material discharged from the opposite side ofsaid roll, said material receiving and dispensing chute being formedwith a laterally directed discharge way having an angled lip on thelower side thereof for deflecting the material impinging thereuponoutwardly and downwardly for thoroughly dispersing or spreading thematerial in its downward passage.
 3. The machine of claim 1 whereinmeans are provided for moving the chute plate closest to said rolltoward and away from the upturned lip on the other chute plate fordecreasing and increasing the size of said lateral discharge way fordecreasing and increasing the flow of material laterally onto theperiphery of said roll.
 4. The machine of claim 3 wherein the bottomedge of said movable chute plate facing said roll is beveled to permitsaid movable chute plate to be moved closely adjacent the periphery ofsaid roll when a minimum lateral outflowing of material is desiredwithout damaging or causing frictional drag on the periphery of saidroll.
 5. The machine of claim 3 wherein said means for moving the chuteplate closest to said roll toward and away from the upturned lip on theother chute plate comprises a stationary bracket, an adjusting screwrotatably supported by said stationary bracket, a movable bracketcarried by said movable chute plate, said adjusting screw havingthreaded engagement with said movable bracket whereby rotation of saidadjusting screw causes movement of said movable chute plate toward andaway from said upturned lip, and spring means surrounding said adjustingscrew between said brackets which provides a resistance to turning ofsaid adjusting screw.
 6. The machine of claim 1 further comprising arotatable brush mounted in apposed and bristle contacting engagementwith the roll periphery immediately below said upturned lip, and meansfor rotating said brush to maintain the periphery of said roll clear ofthe material being dispensed.
 7. The machine of claim 6 wherein saidmeans for rotating said brush comprises drive means between said rolland brush, whereby rotation of said roll causes rotation of said brush.8. The machine of claim 1 further comprising a material receiving anddispensing chute below said roll for receipt of the material dischargedfrom the opposite side of said roll, and an inwardly inclined walladjacent the opposite side of said roll for directing the roll dispensedmaterial into said material receiving and dispensing chute.